Societal woes spill onto field

People paint their houses Packer Green, name their kids after their favorite players and wear the same socks every Sunday because "the Giants haven't lost since I started wearing them."

Last year Eagles fans at the Linc chanted "fire Andy" during a game. An umpire made a bad call last week and 5,000 beer bottles pelted the Atlanta Braves' turf.

Fans have got issues, issues I thought we'd never see in the U.S.

The issues in today's sports fan hit new heights (or should I say lows) last weekend with two events.

On Sunday, a 42-year-old Chicago Bears fan died in a Jacksonville, Fla., bar when his throat was slashed by a Jaguars' fan.

Also on Sunday, fans in Kansas City cheered when their quarterback, unpopular QB Matt Cassel, was knocked unconscious after a hit. Cassel's teammate, offensive lineman Eric Winston, called the fans' cheering "100 percent sickening."

Winston spoke for over two minutes about the event that had Cassel on his back for several minutes as fans cheered.

"We've got a lot of problems as a society if people think that's OK," Winston said.

He's absolutely right, fans are out of control.

Don't try to wear a Cowboys jersey in Philadelphia on game day or a Red Sox hat in New York City. There's a good chance you might get spit on, beer dumped on you or just plain cursed at.

If professional team owners want more fannies in the seats, they'd better figure out that a generation of fans won't even consider walking into your stadium — it isn't safe.

On opening day of the Major League Baseball season in 2011, a San Francisco Giants fan was nearly beaten to death when two LA Dodgers fans attacked him. Giants fan Bryan Stow suffered brain damage in the attack.

There are plenty of fans who go to Philadelphia and New York or Pittsburgh and enjoy themselves, cheering for their team. But the minority is killing it for the rest.

Why can't a NY Giants fan go to Philly and not worry about getting spit on? Why can't an Eagles fan go to the Meadowlands without their being an issue of what he's wearing?

Eric Winston's right, we've got problems as a society and it's carrying over onto fields that were supposed to bring us all entertainment, not a fistfight.